Your experience with a mental health condition is completely different from the person sitting next to you. For that reason, it is hard to say what the most effective mental health treatment is. There is no exact formula for mental health care because it is most effective when individualized and offers a whole-person approach. Individuals seeking treatment should consider this when considering their options.
When combined, evidence-based modalities and holistic treatment can help heal your mind, body, and soul. This combination of treatment plans effectively treats and teaches clients the tools needed to maintain recovery long-term. We believe that everyone can find freedom from active addiction and mental illness. Let us help you attain that freedom today.
What Is Holistic Treatment?
Holistic treatment describes methods that offer a whole-person approach to mental health care. That means treating the mind, body, and soul. Holistic practices teach people to focus on their overall well-being. After all, a path to improved mental health requires you to make life changes focused on health and wellness.
Holistic approaches offer many healthy practices you can experiment with in addition to traditional modalities. Some people may be skeptical of holistic practices, but they can produce fruitful rewards. Despite skepticism, alternative treatment approaches are implemented in many facilities. Professionals use additional methods like art and music therapy, nature therapy, and other unorthodox practices to help clients improve their mental health.
In many ways, holistic care is becoming somewhat of a new standard for mental health treatment. One of the most significant benefits of holistic care is its ability to improve overall wellness, ultimately improving mental health.
Wellness and Improved Mental Health
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) define wellness as a “holistic approach to health that is vital for improving outcomes among people with behavioral health conditions.” They describe the eight dimensions of wellness as:
- Emotional
- Environmental
- Financial
- Intellectual
- Occupational
- Physical
- Social
- Spiritual
To achieve wellness, individuals should have their needs met in each dimension, dependent on their “goals, beliefs, values, culture, personality, preferences, and life experiences.”
Treatment can also be a time to achieve wellness within these dimensions. As mentioned, professionals find a combination of evidence-based modalities and holistic practices exceptionally effective in treating mental health conditions.
Benefits of Evidence-Based Modalities and Holistic Treatment
Evidence-based modalities and treatment describe methods that are proven effective in treating something. These modalities are clinically studied, and the results of said studies produce effective results.
Some of the evidence-based treatments we implement at Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention are:
- Crisis stabilization
- Medication management
- Family and community support
- Nutrition and recreation services
- Recovery and safety planning
- Additional support services
- Whole-person wellness
Holistic and evidence-based practices are so effective together because they complement each other. Evidence-based modalities help clients get to the root cause of their addiction. Holistic therapy offers practical tools to cope with that cause.
Getting to the root cause of a mental health condition is crucial. However, having practical coping methods that help you manage your condition long-term is also invaluable.
Why You Should Consider a Whole-Person Approach to Treatment
One main reason to consider a whole-person approach to treatment is it will help you manage your symptoms. Holistic programs help clients connect mind-body-spirit. For years, mental health and addiction treatment facilities focused on the condition, not the person. This was an incredibly harmful approach because it made people feel like they were only their condition.
Clients must feel heard, understood, and empowered in their recovery journey. A whole-person approach to treatment does that. It allows clients to control their care plan and create a post-treatment recovery plan that works best for them.
Whole-Person Approach to Treatment at Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention
Similar to those given by the SAMHSA, we have our own dimensions of wellness at Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention. They include:
- Emotional wellness. That includes having emotional support and modeling, the ability to recognize and accept your emotional state, and tools to manage it.
- Social wellness. This consists of having a regular support system, balancing dependence and mutual care, effective communication, and meaningful involvement with the community.
- Physical wellness is about maintaining physical health through exercise, healthy food, and reducing bodily harm.
- Intellectual wellness is less talked about but focuses on learning, creativity, and growth.
- Spiritual wellness is characterized by having an accepting and fulfilling spiritual environment. That includes engaging with religious beliefs or not engaging in religion if chosen.
- Occupational wellness. A fulfilling and well-paying job is always necessary for overall well-being. That includes a safe working environment, a living wage, growth potential, and disability and mental health accommodations.
Whole-person approaches to treatment are generally the most effective, especially when combined with evidence-based modalities. To learn more about how a whole-person approach to treatment can benefit you, contact Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention.
Over the past few decades, professionals in the field of mental health treatment have realized that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment. Instead, we now know that individual care plans are most effective in helping people recover from addiction or a mental health condition. It is also most beneficial when treatment offers a whole-person approach. A whole-person approach to treatment treats the whole person, not just the disorder. This can effectively be done by combining evidence-based modalities and holistic practices into mental health care in a way that helps clients achieve overall wellness. If you are looking for a whole-person approach to treatment that will help you achieve overall wellness, call Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention at (866) 986-1481.
